Thinking Ahead for Prayer

Abû Al-Dardâ’ – Allah be pleased with him – said:

It is from a person’s knowledge and understanding that he sees to his needs first in order to turn to his prayer with a heart free of distractions.

Ibn Al-Mubârak in Al-Zuhd wa Al-Raqâ’iq Vol.2 p726

2 Responses to “Thinking Ahead for Prayer”

  1. umm abd rahman on October 5, 2009 - الاثنين 17 شوال 1430 20:11

    Assalam aleykoum,
    I would appreciate if you could answer a question which arose after reading above hadith. Would eating a light snack before the maghrib prayer be considered acceptable for fasting person who cannot wait to eat his food? Or is it considered disliked to delay the prayer for the sake of eating?
    Barakallahu fikum

  2. Owais Al-Hashimi intensedebate.com on October 15, 2009 - الخميس 27 شوال 1430 09:45

    Wa alaykumus-salam,
    The Sunnah teaches us to break the fast as soon as possible, when maghrib comes in. We are also taught in the Sunnah to not pray when food is served or when needing to relieve ourselves (Sahih Muslim, Musnad Ahmad and others). Scholars say this is because if a person starts praying while needing food, he may not pay attention to his prayer, not remember Allah properly, or he may hurry the prayer and compromise it. So insha Allah there is no harm in eating a bit before the prayer, but trying to keep it to what is needed so as not to delay maghrib too much.
    Allah knows best.